Written and illustrated by Greg Pizzoli
As complete fans of Pizzoli‘s humor and art, we really loved his latest authored book Mister Kitty is Lost! The book, with which babies and toddlers will become obsessed, gave me Go Away Big Green Monster (1992) vibes, in the way the pages are cut out. However, there is definitely a humorous Pizzoli layer to his version.
A little girl (wish she’d have a name) asks the reader to help her find her pet, Mister Kitty, giving clues in the process. He has five yellow spots, and four orange paws, and so forth, counting down from 5 to 1. The reader sees these things in one page, but finds out they are absolutely not part of Mister Kitty in the following page. It is a colorful book that young readers will love to read again and again. The girl’s and her dog’s expressions are amusing. Hinting in the cover, readers find a big surprise when they realize Mister “Kitty” is actually (spoiler) A LION!
Pizzoli’s illustrations in this book are particularly charming and easy to reproduce in flannel board form for story time. I did so using construction paper, sharpie, and crayon because I wanted my toddler to manipulate the parts of Mister Kitty. I realize this is bordering on copyright infringement but I am not doing it for profit. Plus, the little girl reminded me so much of Mila, I had to trace and make her!
This is a simple, yet captivating book that is easily translated upon first reading. Beginning readers will also find this title an easy read.
Seen above is my nephew putting Mister Kitty together. I hid Mister Kitty first and we went looking for him after reading the book. Then, the kids took turns hiding the dog as well, who ends up missing at the end of the book. Very fun!
Yago has recently been on a Pizzoli kick. He is hooked on the beginning reader Jack series, written by Mac Barnett, and the Baloney and Friends trilogy (thus far).
Biblioterika 